ENERGY: Sempra invests more than $500 million into wind

Sempra U.S.
Gas & Power
, a nonregulated unit of the same company that
owns San Diego Gas & Electric Co. and Southern California Gas
Co., invested more than $500 million in a pair of wind projects
already under development by BP Wind Energy, the two companies said
Tuesday.

Sempra will take a 50 percent ownership stake in Pennsylvania
and Kansas wind farms that will, when completed, generate 560
megawatts of power.

The move is part of a major expansion into renewables by
Sempra.

"We'll more than double our wind and solar capacity in the next
year," said Scott Crider, a Sempra spokesman.

Sempra and BP are collaborating on a 250-megawatt wind project
in Colorado and a 200-megawatt project in Indiana.